Talk:Heat flux sensor

I just read through this page and was confused by the term "thermopile". I don't think this term is commonly understood and it would be better to have a definition of what a thermopile is. I have added a description ("a number of thermocouple connected in series") in parens after the first mention of the word, but I'm not an expert on this topic and the description could be inaccurate. Glee hokie (talk) 23:18, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

The sentence fragment "that it is not always possible to insert the heat flux sensor in the wall, so that it has to be mounted on top of the wall" is confusing to me. What does it mean to mount the sensor "on top of the wall"? Does this mean on the outer surface of the wall, i.e. the face of the wall? Or does it mean to mount it literally on top of the wall, i.e. where the ceiling meets the wall? Glee hokie (talk) 23:18, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

temperature difference only?

This is the usual measurement of the temperature difference, due to which the heat flux is calculated. However, the effect of this plate on the thermal distribution can be very significant, and its measurements will have a big error for the engineering design. And where is the difference from the conventional thermoelectric generators.Тибериум (talk) 10:27, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

Hello Тибериум! I am having trouble understanding your comment, so please respond whether or not this answers your questions?

Due to the nature of the sensor, the heat flux is measured by a difference in temperature of both surfaces of the sensor. This can be seen in this picture. And, yes, because the sensor is put in the heat flow between two temperatures, it influences the measurement, as is explained in the Properties section. It can be compared to a resistor with capacitor in an electrical circuit.

The sensors, in principal, does not differ from a thermoelectric generator; they are based on the Seebeck effect.

Does this answer your questions? What part of the page could use extra clarification? Mexxors (talk) 11:25, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for the detailed comment. This will help people better understand the topic of the article. I mean that the heat flow through the wall will be around the places with increased thermal resistance. The sensor creates a place with increased thermal resistance, and therefore a smaller heat flux will flow through it (compared to a wall without a sensor). Therefore, measurement values will be lower. But in the section Properties it is said that the thermal resistance only affects respond time. And the lateral flows refer to the sensor itself, and not to the wall.Тибериум (talk) 12:39, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

I see what you mean. You're right, the article doesn't explicitly mention that the sensor is a resistance in the heat flow. When taking measurements, one should have a good understanding of the object being measured (or at least have an estimated guess). If, for example, the object is a relatively thick wall the sensor won't add much resistance to the flow. But if the object being measured is very thin and/or has a high thermal conductivity compared to the sensor, the measurement can influence the flow. An analogue can be drawn with an ammeter: the resistance of the ammeter should be negligibly low compared to the circuit. It is briefly mentioned in Applications in building physics, but not explained why. It be a nice addition to the article.Mexxors (talk) 13:36, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

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